Ref:
53/2010

Israel has subjected the Gaza Strip
to an illegal closure policy since 1991. This policy’s current, most extreme
form has been applied continuously for over three years following the Hamas
takeover in June 2007. This closure constitutes a form of collective punishment
and has completely cut off Gaza from the outside world.

Palestinian civilians in Gaza are deprived of their fundamental
human rights, such as the freedom of movement, and are deliberately and
systematically denied access to the most basic needs, such as food, medicine
and electricity. By enforcing this illegal policy Israel has manufactured a
chronic and completely preventable humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The current situation is the direct result of Israel’s
long-standing violations of international law, in particular the State’s
disregard for its obligations as an Occupying Power. Despite condemning the
closure, the international community has failed to take necessary action to
alleviate the suffering of innocent civilians and hold Israel accountable under
international law.

The attack on the ‘Gaza Freedom Flotilla’ on 31 May 2010,
which resulted in the killing of nine civilians in international waters, has
focused the world’s attention on the suffering of the Palestinian population of
Gaza. As a reaction to this tragic recent event, new international pressure has
been exerted on Israel in order to put an end to the closure and its fatal
consequences.

On 14 June, the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) issued a critically important report, which highlighted the illegality
of the closure and called upon the international community to uphold its obligation
to “ensure that repeated appeals by States and international organizations
to lift the closure are finally heeded.”

As acknowledged by the ICRC, the closure constitutes a form
of collective punishment of the civilian population, which is clearly prohibited
under Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. This closure regime also
violates a number of other principles of international humanitarian law and
human rights law, including the right to life, the right to the highest
attainable standard of health, the right to freedom of movement of persons and
goods, the right to adequate shelter. Ultimately, the closure violates the
right of the Gaza people to live in human dignity.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) emphasizes
that in order to put an end to this dire situation a dramatic change is needed.
Measures to ease the blockade announced by Israel in recent days are purely
cosmetic and will not represent any significant improvement.

According to media reports – and in line with a proposal put
forward by the Quartet Representative to the Middle East, Tony Blair – Israel
is planning to expand the list of permitted goods into Gaza moving from a list
of permitted items to one of prohibited items; this measure is not adequate and
does not represent any substantial change to the current illegal policy.
Israel’s proposal is only shifting attention from the real problems and does not deal with the root causes of the
crisis.

Israel’s proposed easing of the blockade fails to address
the necessary measures to restart the economy of Gaza, such as the import of
fuel and construction materials or the export of products from the Strip.
Expanding the list of permitted items cannot improve the situation unless it is
accompanied by the unconditional opening of all border crossings of the Gaza
Strip.

PCHR stresses that the alleged easing of the closure fails
to address the most important issue: the freedom of movement of the imprisoned
Palestinian population of Gaza.

The 1.5 million people living in the Gaza Strip have the
legitimate right to live normal, dignified lives, to enjoy freedom of movement
and to have access to work, education and medical treatment.

“The siege has transformed the Gaza Strip into an
animal farm” forcefully notes Raji Sourani, Director of PCHR. “The
risk is that Gaza is just passing to another form of illegal blockade, one that
may become internationally accepted and institutionalized.”

The Quartet noted that the situation of the civilian
population of Gaza is unsustainable, unacceptable and cannot be resolved by
providing humanitarian aid; as confirmed by the ICRC, there is no sustainable
solution other than the complete, immediate lifting of the closure.

The whole international community must act decisively in
order to put an end to the illegal closure of the Gaza Strip, and to ensure
civilians legitimate human rights.